Hyuga Miki  A Shinobi's World
by Shadow543
Summary: A Shinobi's life is full of dangerous things, most notably pie and overly cliche bandits.
1. Chapter 1

**Character Name:** Hyūga Miki  
**Age**: 14  
**Village**: Iwagakure  
**Rank:** Genin  
**Personality:** Shy and anti-social. She is always serious and constantly judgemental about her own actions. She rarely speaks of her own free will and will never tell the truth (at least the complete truth) to any question she is asked. She prefers to express her emotions through actions rather than words. She dislikes men/boys due to a number of previous experiences. Dislikes, most physical contact except for a few of the other female shinobi who have managed to gain her trust.  
**Appearance:** Carriers a small metal flute in her clothes and an umbrella over her shoulder almost always. Two ornate blades, each roughly 30cm long sheathed on her lower back. In inconspicuous containers in and above her clothes she carries an assortment of senbon, both normal and toxin coated (Paralysis, Blindness and Numbing) as well as a number of shuriken and several lengths of wire string.  
**Elemental Affinity:** Earth  
**Kekkei Genkai:** Byuakugan

**Specialty:** Jūken (Gentle Fist), Taijutsu, Stealth and scouting.

**Bio:** Born into the Hyūga clan of Konohagakure, an unimportant member of one of the side branches. When she was still young her parents (not shinobi) dishonoured the clan and were forced into exile to be executed. They attempted to escape by travelling to the allied nation of Iwagakure. Assassins were sent to destroy them to stop the Hyūga's Kekkei Genkai from being potentially exposed. They were saved by the current Tsuchikage who was at the time a Jonin, a year away from taking his position.

She grew up and trained in Iwagakure, graduating to Genin rank when she was thirteen. The night of her fourteenth birthday she was chosen as the Junchuriki for the 4-tails and had it sealed inside of her. She has been learning to control it with private training sessions from Fiera and on rare occasions the Tsuchikage. She is constantly trying to prove herself and recover her families lost honour.


	2. Chapter 2

Strong Man Competition - 20 SP - Compete with the villagers through various strength oriented events - 1-2 people

I was supposed to make friends with them. Yes, that had to be the reason. There wasn't any other logical conclusion for pitting a small fourteen year old girl against oversized lumps of walking muscle in a contest of strength. Nobody with an ounce of common sense would take it seriously. Not if they valued their sanity at least.

Unfortunately for me the instructor appeared to be lacking even the slightest hint of common sense. A closer approximation of measurement would have been a tea spoon. Though, knowing him, it would be unlikely to fill the whole spoon. Regardless of what lack of logical thought had lead to this moment, I now had to go through with it.

I knew they would all laugh. I walked up to the participant's area. Everyone that saw me was soon trying to keep a straight face. They knew they would all laugh. I walked up to the man in charge of the participant's registration. He looked around expecting that this was a joke and that he would soon see a group of people doubled over trying to stop their sides splitting.

"Are you here for the contest little girl?" he asked

I nodded.

The other contestants were the first to give in to temptation, bursting into a round of bellowing laughter. They didn't know me. My family's existence was kept a secret. I was just a girl with strange eyes, not a shinobi to them, not the four-tails Jinchuriki. I had to make a good impression on them while I was still just a girl. The man still expecting that this was a joke tried to comfort me.

"Don't worry about them, you can leave now." The man tried to pat me on the head. I nimbly dodged it moving under his arm and continuing past him.

"No, I'm here for the contest." I wasn't here for the contest. I was here to make friends.

He began to look worried. The joke was obviously going too far for him. The first event began, luckily before he could attempt another comforting gesture. It was the Boulder Push (With boulder). It wasn't much of a push. It was more of a roll really. Though in some cases it was also a pick-up-and-drop, with the occasional oh-god-watch-for-the-toes moment. There didn't seem to be any rules to it.

You got the boulder from point A to point B as quickly as possible and you did it however you liked. Despite the task seeming so simple, the men struggled with the goat sized lump of stone. After learning a number of new and interesting curse words, it was my turn.

The task reminded me of something the Tsuchikage had put me through during my personal training. Although it had involved a boulder twice my size the principles seemed to be the same. It was all about letting the rock do the work for you. Getting it rolling was the battle, it takes very little compared to keep it rolling.

There was the inevitable snickering as I went to push the boulder. I took a strong stance and started charging chakra in my feet and hands. The men were still making jokes about me. I finished kneading the chakra and pushed against the boulder but nothing happened. This was met by an explosion of laughter.

The rock slowly tilted forward, it was slowly getting into motion. I tensed my legs and gave it a shove setting it rolling. The laughter slowly stopped as the boulder moved, gaining speed. I kept nudging it to keep it going and slowly increase the speed, stopping when it reached the line. To add to the surprise of the men the boulder kept rolling past the finish and into a tree, hitting it with a loud thud.

Convinced that it was some kind of fluke they put me first up for the next event the Tower of strength (With Hammer). The hammer that was being used was big, twice as big as me in fact. It also looked as if it might be twice as heavy. I looked at the hammer and then back at the organisers.

"Do I have to use the hammer?" I asked.

"Well no you don't bu-" I didn't wait for him to continue past 'no' stamping my foot down onto the plate. His response was cut short by a loud ringing sound.

I removed my foot as the crowd erupted into a wall of noise. The number of people all trying to touch me scared me more than any amount of wild, rabid creatures. In my defence there was at least a slight resemblance to wild, rabid creatures in a few of the crowd members. I screamed and ran away, although not into the distance as I had intended but directly into someone.

Luckily for me it was only Mariko a special Jonin who had taught at the academy when I was there, through she had now moved on and was preparing to enter ANBU.

"You look so cute when you're scared Miki-Chan" she said patting me on the head. I immediately tried to get behind her so I could hide.

A loud member from the crowd spoke up which soon started an avalanche of questions.

"That girl is amazing."

"Who is she?"

"I she a shinobi?"

"What's with her eyes?"

Mariko whispered to me "Oh my, you're quite the popular one Miki-Chan"

"Is it true that she's a Hyūga?"

The last question threw the crowd into silence. They were waiting for Mariko to answer.

"This -" She pulled me out from behind her and put me in front wrapping her arms across my chest. Partly to comfort me and partly to stop me from running. She did know me very well after all. "- is Hyūga Miki"

Everyone gasped as a whole; even in Iwakagure the Hyūga clan was still famous for their legendary Dojustsu. Mariko continued introducing me and explaining the questions.

"She's one of my precious little Genin that graduated from the academy last year."

The same man who'd asked about me being a Hyūga spoke up again. I thought he sounded familiar, like one of the other teachers in the academy. "Can she use the Byūakugan?"

"Of course" Mariko replied "But you didn't let me finish introducing her."

The murmurs from the crowd about my Byūakugan were silenced.

"Miki-Chan here is also the Jinchuriki for the four-tails."

The silence was different from those that had followed before. It was mixed with fear and apprehension. They had all seen me before, I was definitely different but I'd never seemed to be even the slightest bit threatening.

"Would anyone like to come and introduce themselves?"

Most people's reactions suggested she had just asked for volunteers to floss a hungry lion's mouth. They froze in spot, neither willing to leave less they miss something nor willing to be the ones to try introducing themselves. An elderly looking man came up to greet me, he extended his hand.

"Hello Miki-Chan, I'm Genzou, nice to meet you." He gave me a wink and whispered "Remember me?"

It took me a while to realise the transformation jutsu in place but he was definitely one of the academy teachers. Mariko urged me to take his hand. I did, an intense feeling of relief sweeping over the rest of the villagers. It was now safe to assume I wouldn't try biting any of them. A line of the braver members of the crowd began to form to introduce themselves to me and shake my hand.

I kept my place held in Mariko's comforting arms as I forced myself to make a good impression on everyone. The line slowly grew until everyone had now met me or would soon. It was dark by the time the last of the villagers left. I was completely exhausted. Mariko bent down to hug me.

"Well that went well. You made a good first impression on them." She gave me another squeeze.

"You did well Miki, I'm proud of you."

I hated to admit it but if the instructor had planned this then he wasn't an idiot, he was a genius who just happened to act like one.

I raced Mariko up the hill towards the Tsuchikage's office. She let me win like always but I didn't mind this time. I was too happy to care about being doted upon.


	3. Chapter 3

Mission: Glutton - 15 SP - Participate in an eating contest to win the prize for one of your old teachers - Solo

Eating, wasn't as far as I was concerned, a special skill. Although my appetite had always been utterly deceptive in relation to my size, it never troubled me if I ignored it. Most of the shinobi I had noticed seemed to have this in common. They probably needed to balance out the tolls of training somehow. However after my fourteenth birthday my appetite had undeniably increased. I always held it in check though. I would stop getting treated if I ate as much as I wanted. I'd also probably get fat and that was something that I definitely didn't want.

I'd skipped breakfast this morning, and only had a small portion for dinner. I was committed to winning the competition but not enough to miss dinner.

The contest was of course based on pie, the most wonderful of foods and grandfather to the eating contest. There was just something magical about pie. That made you want to cram as much as you could into your mouth, without bothering to think about indigestion, or if you'd be able to chew. The only real worry was that you'd run out of pie. I liked pie, pie was good.

I found myself again a novelty in a contest, another part to gain the villagers acceptance. They were the best kind of pies freshly baked and piping hot. Although in hindsight the piping hot part wasn't the best thing for an eating contest. I ate as if the food would be snatched from my hands if it stayed there for more than three seconds.

I still can't remember much after that. I know I'd managed to win the contest but I wasn't sure exactly what had happened. Though, I had learnt an important fact of life. Large amounts of pie lead to drowsiness. I assumed this could be used for copious intake of other foods as well. I got out from under the table, my prize in my carry pouch on my hip. I had already decided it would be a gift for Mariko. I tried to get up and walk but immediately fell over.

I decided that the best course of action involved me not doing anything for a long time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sweet Tooth - 20 SP** - The Tsuchikage requests that a special kind of rock candy that he has never seen before be brought to him. Find this legendary candy and bring it to the Tsuchikage 1-2 people

The parameters set were for it to be a) rock candy b) legendary and c) special. I looked at the small round piece of impending bodily harm in my palm. I stared at it with a mixture of malice and a tinge of fear, after my previous attempt at eating it.

Well, it was technically rock candy. Though, I suspected that it was more rock than candy and was confident that anyone who had tried eating one would readily agree. It was also definitely legendary. Anyone around these parts could recognise it from a mile away and mostly kept that distance. Those who couldn't generally ended up not having children.

Somewhere along the way it had stopped being used as food and turned into a weapon. It was now mostly used by hunters, taking the place of rocks in their slings. A well placed stone could crack the skull of a deer at 20 yards. A rock candy chunk of the same size was liable to go straight through the deer and bury itself halfway through any tree unlucky enough to be behind it at the time.

Edibility had become a sort of optional extra. It had long since been forgotten when they'd started using it as ammunition. They reasoned that the last thing you'd want to do with an incurably rigid, deer and splinter covered, chunk of death, would be putting it in your mouth. I could agree with them on that. I'd much rather have the deer.

Special seemed to be the very essence of its existence. That filled the last category. It was a picture perfect fit. Though, the picture seemed dangerous enough to beat a man to death of its own accord. I was still unsure of the taste. I hadn't been able to pin point what exactly, was ravaging my taste buds. The best description I could find elsewhere was that it tasted like blood. Though I suspected that wasn't the candy's flavour but rather, the effect it had on your mouth when biting was attempted.

I thanked the crone who was dreamily stirring her cauldron, taking two small bags of the candy with me. One was for the Tsuchikage as my mission required, the other was for personal, use. Something like a sixth sense had kicked in, recognising that it would be a handy thing to have in a desperate situation. Anything that dangerous you'd rather keep with you, to use against others. I figured I'd be fine, if I remembered to never try eating it again. I was reasonably confident that my body would stop me of its own accord if a piece ever found itself near my mouth. It was a once in a lifetime experience, mainly, because I doubted anyone had ever survived the second time.

I was running late. I had spent two days in bed after the rock candy 'incident'. Trying to ignore the searing pain in my mouth as I walked, thinking of the Tsuchikage's reaction. My travels back were plagued with sporadic fits of giggling, soon followed by fits of loudly expressed pain and then fits of falling down.


	5. Chapter 5

**Bandits - 25 SP -** Some bandits keep attacking transports heading towards Iwagakure. Beat the snot out of them and bring them back to the village! - 1-3 people.

I had to admit, they did have an undeniable flare. Roadside ambushes had been around for thousands of years. However it is unlikely that many before, had the audacity to participate in such a venture with their pants on their heads.^1 It may have been induced by a type of poisonous fungus common in the surrounding woods but it was still incredibly entertaining to watch.

Although it was technically still an ambush, it was hard to take it seriously. This proved to be a rather large problem. Unfortunately, only a small number of the bandits were inquisitive enough to try eating things they found growing on trees. The rest appeared to have more common sense, if only slightly. As it turned out, capturing people while they are laughing uncontrollably is surprisingly easy.

There was also the bear sized ball of fur mounted with a saddle, for what I assumed was riding. However it had become obvious by the distance each man kept from it. That such a feat would be foolhardy at best. I assumed instead, that nobody was brave enough to get close enough to take it off. From what I heard it was the leader's pet, though nobody trusted it not to savagely maul them if they got too close. This was high-level thinking for a large number of the bandits. The creature apparently also liked fingers, human fingers to be more accurate but to be absolutely precise my fingers.

Being led blindfolded, into a bandit camp to face certain death, slavery or worse. That sort of thing was supposed to invoke a certain amount of fear and apprehension. It was something that generally filled the air thick with tension. Up to the point where you began suffocating under it. It is however, very hard to maintain such a mood when the captive is constantly giggling. In this case it was due to a suspected mammal of unknown heritage treating her fingers like catnip.

I had decided on an easier system to classify 'it'. From now on it would be known to me as the Unidentified Furry Mammal, or UFM for short.

I felt the change as we entered the camp, or to be more truthful, smelt it. The air was tinged with an acrid smell that signalled, specific items burning. Devoid of my sight the best description would be of everyday things that most generally shouldn't be burning, like your house.

The blindfold across my eyes posed no problem to me it would be removed when I was presented to their leader. The standard Inspection of the goods before slavery was to be expected. Or to see the fear in my eyes before death with the chance to gloat about something, most likely irrelevant.^2 On the other hand, the large iron ring around my waist that held my arms, was irritating to say the least.

The blindfold was taken off and not gently. The iron ring remained. Whoever was in charge was smart enough to figure out that a young girl travelling by her own was not possible. A young girl travelling by her own doesn't get far without being kidnapped or killed. A young shinobi on the other hand. Well, they would be able to move freely, kidnapping or killing those would-be hazards.

The rest were your generic bandits. Strong muscles, with a weak mind, filthy inside and out. They were the overly common kind, that you can only assume are mass produced somewhere. A more creative person may have come up with the idea that they sprang from holes in the ground.^3 Judging from the amount of dirt on them, this may have been a fair guess. These particular bandits also happened to come with an excellent vocabulary of crude and obscure swear words.

Those who had participated in the tasting of tree based substances were rounded up. The leader spoke with an air of arrogance.

It was the tone that followed those who have figured out that they are more intelligent than the people around them, but have not yet learned that the most intelligent thing they can do is to not let anyone else know it.

"What happened to them?" he said, eyeing me warily as if suggesting that I had been the one who had done this to them, rather than their own stupidity.

One of the bandits who appeared to be second in command spoke up "They ate some sort of stuff that grows on them big spindly trees, sir."

He nodded pretending that he knew all about 'that stuff that grows on them big spindly trees'. Looking somewhat relieved that I didn't appear to have the power to do that to them but also embarrassed. After all it had just been exposed to the captive just how bright some of his men were. It was well covered though, the mark of a man who had built his life from lies and deception. Those who were currently not clearly grounded in our world were put into a bamboo cage. That I assumed, was originally meant to hold those of negotiable ownership.

The UFM licked my hand. Forcing a slight smile onto my face as whilst I was staring towards the bandit leader. The leader scowled, obviously mistaking it for an attack on his pride. He moved quickly up to face me. Putting a hand under my chin and assuming the position of an inspector. He moved my face from side to side, looking at it from all angles like he was valuing a piece of jewellery. I held eye contact through it all defiantly.

"Looks like top quality merchandise here." He took note of my rebellious look "Gonna have to be broken in of course, I reckon we'll be able to have a go each, before she breaks."A twisted grin forming on his face knowing that in this situation the power was completely in his hands.

There are certain situations where laughter is certain. Such as when a custard pie comes into contact with a face or when animals do strange things. The UFM, who I had decided to name Teddy, thought that this would be an excellent time to start sucking my fingers. I was at the current time, unsure of the intentions behind its actions, or its intelligence. If it's the thought that counts, then surely good natured ignorance was at least worth partial credit?

In accordance with the proper conduct in such a situation, I burst into an ear-splitting fit of hilarity. It echoed through the camp, a sense of foreboding beginning to rear its ugly head. It was important to maintain respect for those with power. After all, they believed at least, that they were very important people. The other bandits distanced themselves from their leader who was now giving of the aura of a bomb about to explode. The only thing missing was a dramatic ticking sound. Barring the intervention of a flying pie it appeared I was on my own.

He struck me with the back of his hand. A jarring impact shook me as the iron ring met solid earth. Teddy was sure that he liked me, I smelt good. The other master didn't smell so good, even if he treated him better than the other people. Teddy decided at that point in time that smelling good was more important. He barrelled into his former master slicing a gaping wound across his chest with long burly claws that had been hidden by a wad of fur. Judging from the scream that was uttered, it appeared that the leader had reached the level of pain that men thought to be about equal to childbirth.^4 Teddy pushed him to the ground and was trying to eviscerate him by the time I managed to wriggle free of the ring.

"Stop, Teddy!" I cried out desperately, hoping that he would understand me. "That's enough!" My mission was to bring them back alive, for proper punishment.

Surprisingly Teddy abruptly stopped his ferocious assault and even more surprisingly, carefully got off the bandit's body. I inspected the now unconscious leader, the rest of the bandits in a state of temporary shock. Some attempting to process what had just happened to their leader, the slower members still wondering who Teddy was.

The slice across his chest was luckily, mostly superficial and appeared to be shallow. For once the thick hide armour that was notoriously flimsy had actually protected someone well enough to be acknowledged as actual armour. Not knowing any medical ninjutsu and with none of my first aid supplies available I used part of his clothing as a tourniquet to put pressure on the wound and attempt to stem the blood loss.

One of the quicker bandits had grasped the situation and attempted to run away from the hefty, dangerous and now blood soaked ball of fur. Teddy saw the opportunity for one of his favourite games, tag. The bandit was soon pinned to the ground and sat on by a cheerful and thoroughly satisfied Teddy. By now, even the slowest had now grasped the present situation. Only a few of them were brave enough to risk a game of tag.

I hastily cast a Temporarily Paralysis Jutsu on them, stopping them in their tracks and completely draining the rest of hope.

It was now clear that I was a shinobi and with Teddy obviously taking my side they resigned themself to the vain hope that they could escape captivity. I tied those who had tried running first, using the vast quantity of rope at the camp.^5 I tied them together in a chain that grew like a caterpillar.

One of the bandit's that had provided comic relief during the ambush had managed to get out of the cage. He was standing on a large rock, proclaiming to the world that he could fly. Flapping his arms like a bird, his look of determination suggested, he expected to take flight any moment now. I pushed him off the rock and into flight. It was a very brief flight. It lasted only a second. Ending with him face first on the ground. He was still feverishly waving his arms. Perhaps he was attempting to gain altitude.

I tied him up at the end of the chain with the rest as I got the others out of the cage. Teddy's presence seemed to be enough to keep them all in check. They may have had nothing to lose but the threat of a pending death of the excruciatingly painful variety can do wonders for a man's discipline. It was like a forced march with a troop of soldiers. A troop of awfully smelly, dirty, men with little loyalty, honour or will to fight and who swore heavily under their breath, almost constantly.^6 Yes, that was about right, wasn't it?

I looked along the chain, then at the undeniably happy Teddy, bouncing beside me. I sighed, tilting my head to the side. I started drifting into a dream-like state, staring blankly into the horizon. I was completely exhausted. The day was finally coming to an end. It had been a very fun day indeed.

^1(As opposed to the traditional placement of most pants, being the legs.)

^2 (There is always something to gloat about.)

^3(One must not rule out the possibility of one, big hole.)

^4 (He was of course, as most men are, completely wrong about this. It would take at the very least, disembowelment and possibly a kick to the groin for it to reach a comparative level.)

^5 (Ironically present for this very purpose, just not planned for use on the bandits themselves.)

^6 (The bandits proved much more creative in their choice of swearing than normal soldiers. Some of them would have been capable of turning a sailor beet red with embarrassment.)


End file.
